One of the problems with writing a textbook on American government is that
at some point the book has to go to print, but political developments in America
continue to change.

UW-River Falls Professor of Political Science and Department Chair Tracey
Gladstone-Sovell became acutely aware of this early on the morning of Sept.
11. As she was looking over the final page proofs of the book she had just finished
writing in collaboration with two other authors, terrorists attacked the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon, and life as Americans knew it was changed forever.

Gladstone-Sovell and her two co-authors quickly updated the text where they
could, then wrote a message to include in the preface, telling readers that,
where it was possible, they had tried to indicate how the events would likely
affect the political process in America and referred them to content on the
book¹s Web site for further information.

"The Web of Democracy: An Introduction to American Politics," is the result
of a three-year project undertaken by Gladstone-Sovell and professors of political
science Michael C. Gizzi, Mesa State College, Colorado, and William R. Wilkerson,
College at State University of New York‹Oneonta. The textbook combines the best
of both print and Internet technology for teaching the subject of political
science.

Gladstone-Sovell said "The Web of Democracy" brings American government to
life for students by incorporating Web-based exercises and simulations. Colorful,
easy-to-spot icons throughout the book lead students to activities, simulations,
supplemental readings and hot links at the books¹s Web site. The text is available
to faculty on either WebCT or Blackboard platforms.

People have been using the web along with textbooks for a few years now, but
we are trying to capture as much of the educational potential of the Web as
we possibly can," said Gladstone-Sovell. "We have fully integrated the site
with the textbook."

One of the advantages of having the Web site is that things occur all the
time that make books obsolete as soon as they are published, but the Web is
always subject to revision. The authors will keep their book as current as possible
by doing updates each semester.

She noted that from the home page, faculty can take the course in any direction.
Of particular interest are MicroCase® exercises, simple data analysis exercises
such as examining the difference between liberals and conservatives on various
policy issues; a virtual Constitutional convention, which allows students to
debate provocative proposals, such as flag burning; and participation exercises
where, for examples, students may answer a series of questions about where they
stand on issues to determine their own political ideology. "The theme of the
book is participation in the political process, why it is important, and how
you might go about doing it," said Gladstone-Sovell. "The story of Max Neuhaus,
who was elected to the school board as a high school senior in River Falls,
is used as an example of this in the book."

It seemed important to Neuhaus that, since a school board make decisions affecting
young people, the young people would have a representative or two with demographics
similar to their own on the board. Neuhaus proved that young people can participate,
and they can have their opinions heard. He said that whether by voting or by
actively participating in politics, the opportunity to be involved is everywhere.

"It seemed like it took us forever to write the book," said Gladstone-Sovell.
"It began as a different type of project, and evolved over time into what it
is now. It took three years to complete the project." She said she wasn¹t acquainted
with either of her co-authors before she began working on the book. She met
Gizzi while working on an earlier version of it, and they brought in Wilkerson
because he had expertise in areas of political science that neither she nor
Gizzi had.

"Besides, we needed to divide the work if we were to get this thing done!,"
said Gladstone-Sovell. "It was a big project, and we were all teaching full
time."

Reflecting on the events of Sept. 11, Gladstone-Sovell said, "If ever there
was a time in our nation¹s history when active participation in the political
process was called for, this is it."